Notes About the Design:
There’s no better way to ease the pain of a forced move than to sign a lease of an outdated townhouse with the landlord’s blessing to go to town on a reno project! The house had 20 year old carpets and about 30 years or wear-and-tear on just about everything else.
While major structural changes were outside of the budget this time, HW|D set to work redesigning the space to take advantage of the limited natural light and elongated, narrow floor plan common in almost all townhouses. We wanted to be sure to keep long, clean lines and lighter colors for the larger furniture pieces to avoid a cluttered or cramped aesthetic. With that template, it was easy to add a pop or flare of rustic accents through out the room.
Specs:
- new floors
- faux built-ins
- accent wall
- HW|D accent furniture pieces
The Build:
1.
Using the specs from the floor plan, a sketch up rendering was made to include and guide the style of the new floors and the modern farm house style on a budget!
2.
The first thing to tackle were the floors. To complete, HW|D first needed to remove the 25 year old carpets and underlayment — what demo job! The subfloors, while some areas did have some warping from slight water damage, they were in good shape and did not require removal.
After the the carpet, under layment, and tac tracks were removed and the grit and grime cleaned up, it was time to lay the new flooring underlayment using a staple gun and adhesive.
After the underlayment was in place, it was time to place the wood floor styled laminate. The boards were interlocking, requiring no glue or nailing.
3.
After the floors were complete, the faux built-ins were erected and the bead board accent walls were secured with glue and finishing gun nails. Once all of the wall real estate that would not be exposed was covered, it was time to refresh the paint with a light grey with a blue base to make the room calm and serene.
4.
After the floors and shelves were complete, it was time for accents. These floating shelves actually came last and were another modern farmer house design created by HW|D.
5.
The co-living and dining room space needed to feel cohesive yet separate. Using the couch to separate the room and the sliding glass doors as the focal point of the living space gave a relaxing area to lounge next to the book filled shelves that was separate from dining area without feeling out of place or overly crowded.
6.
The accent wall was created with reclaimed pallet wood. Because the renovation was a low budget job, removing the 1970’s peek-through was a no-go; but updating that wall with a more timely accent wall was a great compromise and could be complete with no material expense.
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Work worth doing.